Dressings are often used to treat a tissue site of a patient. A dressing may include many elements that are selected to generally promote growth or healing of tissue. Typically, a dressing may be placed next to a tissue site, such as an open wound, for example. The dressing may cover the tissue site to prevent the tissue site from becoming undesirably dry, prevent contamination of the tissue site from foreign agents, such as undesirable bacteria, and prevent further injury to the tissue site. To accomplish these tasks, dressings are often secured to tissue adjacent the tissue site with an adhesive.
Using adhesives to secure a dressing can keep the dressing in place over a tissue site and limit inadvertent removal of the dressing that may lead to contamination or re-injury of the tissue site. Unfortunately, the adhesive may also irritate the tissue adjacent the tissue site and can cause pain to a patient when the dressing is removed. The pain may be associated in part with removal of hair bonded to the adhesive.
Some dressings may be applied to the tissue site for extended periods. For example, a dressing used with reduced-pressure therapy can be left in place for many days. Hair growth under the dressing during such therapy may cause leaks, as well as increased pain upon removal of the dressing.